Monday, 3 July 2017

Dark Immolation - Christopher Husberg

There are rumours in Ashta - a new religion is rising, and Cinzia, the one-time Cantic priestess, has escaped the Holy Crucible. Fleeing from Navone, Cinzia travels with Knot, a man of many parts, and Astrid, the child-like vampire. They are gathering followers, but the murderous Nazaniin are still on their trail.

Meanwhile, Winter is losing her grip on sanity, grappling with immense powers beyond her understanding. Where she goes, chaos and death follow.

I'm so glad I got to read the first two books of the Chaos Queen series together as it made a for a great reading experience. I'm not quite sure how patient I can be for the third installment but I'll have to be!

Our merry band of travelers are still traveling, but not together and definitely not merrily. There are storm clouds on the horizon and whether everyone left after the shocking events of Duskfall will still be alive by the end, remains to be seen. Believing Knot to be dead Winter enters into the service of the new Emperor, devastated by what she did and thinking herself doomed, not caring whether she lives or dies. The so-called Emperor Daval, possessed by Azael, continues his plans for world domination and drags his youngest daughter into his scheming.At the same time, Knot's memories or sifts as they are known are becoming more unstable. Uncontrollable in some guises, such as Lathe, Astrid the child vampire is the only one who can contain him while the Prophetess, Jane, brings him back. The new (old) religion of Canta is gathering steam but also beleaguered by assassins, betrayed at nearly every turn with Cinzia still struggling with both her faith and the knowledge that her sister may have more contact with her Goddess than she does.In Dark Immolation the world Christopher Husberg expands and we learn more about Canta, about psimancy and the incredible powers that these talented people have, and we spend more time in the Void with some characters, including one who everybody assumed was dead. Astrid goes on a journey to try and help Knot but by doing so places herself in great danger, with her past coming back to haunt her. There are daemons on the loose and you never quite know who is firmly on the side of good or evil.The characters are, in my opinion, the best thing about Dark Immolation (and Duskfall, the first book). It's great to see the relationships developing between the various characters and although there are a lot of them, you never feel overwhelmed by the different points of view. There's some pretty great world-building in these books, with strong writing, well-developed characters, and a truly fascinating setting. I can't wait to read Blood Requiem, the third installment, but I'm not looking forward to the long wait until some time in 2018...If you're a fan of George R. R. Martin or Robin Hobb then the Chaos Queen books are definitely worth investing in. Huge thanks to Titan for sending me a copy of Dark Immolation and for letting me take part in the blog tour. Check out the other stops for excerpts and reviews!